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See that girl over there, Standing far away from me giggling with the crowd) I wish we were friends (we used to be) We told secrets, talked, laughed and whispered the names of those who we wanted as our friends. One day Like the snap of a finger She stopped liking me. She left me alone As if I had done something wrong. Does she remember When we told secrets, talked, laughed (not too long ago) And whispered The names of those who we wanted as our friends?
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Anon, age 13
A number of years ago, a 13-year-old gay student, on the heels of completing Grade 8, came to the doorstep of the Triangle Program, the only classroom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth in Canada. He was traumatized and hardly spoke at all but it was clear that he wanted to register.
A couple of months into his stay, he began to thaw out and talk about his experiences in elementary school. He had been thrown into the creek behind his school, had garbage dumped on him, had a wrist fractured when he was smashed into lockers, and was harassed, threatened, and called derogatory names on a daily basis.
It is outrageous that in the late '90s, parents, administrators, and teachers did not protect this kid. The Triangle staff wanted him to have a different and positive school experience. It seems that many students who have experienced trauma are math-phobic. As the classroom teacher, Vanessa treaded carefully. When she sat down with this student to begin some work in math, she started with a review of integers knowing that he would have already learned about them in elementary school. Vanessa believed it would be a safe place to start. She was astonished to find that this student had no recollection of ever learning negative and positive numbers. She started to put the pieces of the puzzle together and she realized his experiences of harassment began precisely at the time he would have begun learning integers. He had just stopped learning.
We often use this experience based on our work at the Toronto District School Board's Triangle Program to illustrate to teachers and administrators that students stop learning when...